


a new war started, hang the activists

by saturnwritings



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: /dsmp, /rp, Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst, Canon Temporary Character Death, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I think?, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Minecraft Mechanics, Temporary Character Death, disclaimer: there is no hanging its just the title, i didnt tag it major character death because it uses the 3 lives rule, i speedran this :), karl jacobs honestly deserves the world, minecraft respawn mechanics, no beta we die like men, of course :)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:47:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27938312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saturnwritings/pseuds/saturnwritings
Summary: "Karl gazed off into the distance, if he didn’t feel sick to his stomach, maybe he would’ve enjoyed the nice view from the top of Mexican L’Manburg."everyone has to make sacrifices, even karl. even if it means constructing a convoluted plan to frame the king for murder, even if it means dying for the country, everyone has to contribute.or, karl’s perspective of his first death.
Relationships: Karl Jacobs & Sapnap
Kudos: 29





	a new war started, hang the activists

**Author's Note:**

> why am i a lore writer why do i do this to myself i have so many assignments this week and i chose to do this !!! it didnt really take that long but its my longest fic on ao3? weird..... anyway follow my twitter @sailorsatxrn_
> 
> things to note  
> \- dialogue is not in order btw, and some things are shifted around or the location isn’t accurate  
> \- karl and sapnap’s relationship is not explicitly stated, it’s up to you on how to interpret it :]  
> \- title is from TRRST by IC3PEAK, subject to change  
> \- also, despite the title, there is no hanging (just in case you're uncomfortable with that)

Even in his colorblock hoodie, the breeze still got to Karl. It wasn’t like a nice, cooling breeze on a summer day, it was like a breeze that sent chills down your spine, the stormy clouds almost foreshadowing that something bad was about to happen. Karl gazed off into the distance, if he didn’t feel sick to his stomach, maybe he would’ve enjoyed the nice view from the top of Mexican L’Manburg. 

“Karl?”

He focused back onto the conversation, he could see Quackity, George and Sapnap staring at him expectantly.

“You’re okay with that, right?” Karl took a shaky breath, then nodded with as much confidence he could muster up. He was going to die. Quackity seemed to take notice of his stress, as he leaned over and placed a reassuring hand on Karl’s shoulder. Gathering his nerves - or at least imitating it - Karl gave a bright smile.

“It’s for the country, right?” He turned to face George and Sapnap, “Plus you guys only have two lives, and Quackity has one… I’m willing to take one for the team!” In his mind, Karl was very thankful for his acting ability.

Everyone gave uneasy smiles. 

As Quackity and George left, saying something about finalizing the redstone, Karl moved over to open a nearby chest, fidgeting mindlessly with the items inside. He was about to run back to his house to grab some food, noticing they were almost out, before a presence next to him startled him. He looked over to see Sapnap giving him a strained smile, Karl returned it. Upon seeing it, Sapnap’s face fell and he cast his gaze away in favor of the floor.

“You don’t have to do this, you know? You don’t have t-” Sapnap took a deep breath, “You don’t have to die.” 

Karl’s eyebrows furrowed anxiously. Sapnap continued, “I know you said you wanted to do it for the country, but we can figure out something else! I’m sure the others will be okay with it

Karl looked over at Sapnap ranting, he let him finish before speaking up.

“Can I be honest?” Sapnap nodded and hummed, “I’m scared, Sap,” Karl gave a short laugh, “I’m really honking scared, and you’re not really helping.”

Sapnap’s eyes widened, Karl could see he was about to say something, but he cut him off before he could. “I still wanna do it, though, like, I don’t mind giving up a life… It’s just, I’m just a bit scared.” Karl admitted as he averted his eyes. Sapnap crouched down in front of Karl, 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be with you.” He held Karl’s hands in his own, “And, you know, if anyone tries to mess with you, I’ll kick their ass!” Sapnap grinned, and Karl giggled in return. 

With one last deep breath, Karl stood up and brushed some imaginary dirt off his hoodie. Before he could regroup with George and Quackity, he was being pulled into the arms of Sapnap.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you, it’s okay.” He whispered as he cradled Karl’s head.

Despite being surrounded by Sapnap’s warm embrace, Karl shivered.

In the crisp air of the spruce forest, they went over their plan one more time. 

Karl and Sapnap would protest on the bridge of the castle. When Eret arrived, the TNT under the bridge would be triggered, killing Karl and injuring Sapnap in the process. Afterwards, they accuse Eret of responding to a peaceful protest with violence. George would take Eret away to question him, and Quackity, Karl and Sapnap would raid the castle.

Before they could leave, Sapnap gave Karl an apologetic look. Karl was confused for a second, before Sapnap explained.

“I need to lower your HP, so you actually die from the blast.”

Karl nodded after hesitating, and Sapnap swung his netherite axe. Karl yelped, he went to eat out of instinct, only to be stopped by Quackity, explaining that he needed his health to be low. Karl tentatively put his baked potatoes back into his inventory. 

Sapnap rubbed soothing circles into Karl’s back, quietly apologizing. Taking one more peek around the tree trunk, Karl and Sapnap made their way to the castle.

The whole experience was a blur of short, quick breaths and shaking hands.

Karl was constantly glancing over his shoulder nervously. In his hand, he held a marker, that he used to write insults to Eret, or that George was the rightful king. By his feet were even more oak signs.

“What are you doing?”

Hearing Eret’s deep voice made Karl flinch and almost drop his marker. A cold sweat fell over him, and he found that his hand wouldn’t stop shaking. He distantly heard Sapnap say something about peaceful protesting and whatnot. As Eret drew nearer, Karl heard the distinctive hiss of the TNT, and tensed up to brace himself.

_ (It was so hot.) _

He could feel himself screaming, but he couldn’t hear it over the ringing.

_ (The ringing is so loud.) _

And then he was at home.

His hands wouldn’t stop fucking shaking. The whole way from his house to the castle, he was shivering and his legs were wobbly. Sapnap’s eyes became the size of saucers when he saw Karl staggering back. Before he could rush over and support him, he heard George over his communicator saying Eret was on his way back.

Karl’s legs ached as he, Sapnap and Quackity sprinted to the Holy Land. There, they met up with George, but also came face to face with Eret, Hbomb, Puffy, and, horrifyingly, Dream.

As everyone was gathered around Church Prime, Karl finally caught his breath. Just as Karl thought the shouting match couldn’t get any worse, Dream’s words managed to paralyze him.

“You know, I created the Holy Land, I created the rules. I could just kill you right here.” The tension in the air grew thick. Karl furrowed his brows, confused, yet vexed.

“So you’re a tyrant, then! You’re a tyrant!”

“I’m a humanitarian, if anything.” Dream chuckled. In his peripheral, he saw Sapnap visibly shaking in anger. He saw him pull out a crossbow and load it.

“You bastard-” 

“Sapnap!” Without thinking, Karl threw himself in front of him. Sapnap’s confused eyes softened. Dream’s head was tilted, he looked amused, “If you shoot, you’re not better than them.”

Hesitantly, Sapnap lowered his crossbow, and Karl grabbed hold of one of his arms, fiddling with his black undershirt. He couldn’t concentrate on most of the conversation, but when Dream offhandedly mentioned that he would kill Quackity, taking his last life, Karl felt more enraged than he had ever felt before. 

_ (“My castle was raided!”) _

Dream’s comment only cemented his argument that Dream was a tyrant. His use of ‘my’ exposed his dictatorship views. 

“You can keep the throne, it's a bunch of gold blocks.” Dream had a shit-eating grin plastered on his face, barely visible through his mask.

“Okay… Then, what are you going after?” Quackity and Dream went back and forth for what seemed like ages, but went all too fast for Karl to keep up with.

“You stop it. Otherwise, I will kill you, I will burn all your items, I will pillage all your goods and destroy your entire land.” Karl sucked in a shaky breath, he felt Sapnap tense.

“Kinda sounds like a tyrant to me.” Dream tilted his head at Sapnap’s comment.

“More like someone who doesn't like terrorists.” Karl’s eyes narrowed at that, they weren’t terrorists. Sapnap scoffed. Karl felt so dizzy, they just wanted their land, they wanted to be recognized as a country. It was Eret who ordered a hit on George, not the other way around. 

“George, notice how Dream isn't on our side anymore? We’re better off without him.” Karl looked up to see Sapnap’s eyes full of spite and anger. Karl turned back to Dream to look at him sorrowfully.

He tuned out most of the negotiation, what mattered was that they got their country back, even if they did have to rename it. Karl reasoned that it was just a new beginning.

El Rapids was in shambles. Karl sat on the edge, his legs dangling over above the lake, thoughtlessly picking at the grass and weeds. The sunset was pretty, but somehow felt mocking, Karl couldn’t explain it. As he sighed, Sapnap sat next to him, he leaned back on his hands. 

“I know this is probably a dumb question, but, are you okay?” Sapnap locked eyes with him, “I know everything was pretty… intense, but I just wanted to let you know, you’re death won’t be for nothing.”

Karl thought for a second. Despite everything that had happened that day, he gave a small, but genuine smile.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

**Author's Note:**

> I WROTE THIS WITHOUT HAVING FINISHED THE VOD HAHA shoutout to all the recap twitter accounts you guys are really out here doing god’s work B)
> 
> follow my twitter @SAIL0RSATXRN


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